L.A. mom and author Kate Korsh has been an elementary school teacher, a marriage and family therapist and a creative writer. “Oona Bramblegoop’s Sideways Magic” is her delightful and funny debut chapter book about a Newbie Fairy determined to do big things.
How did the story of Oona Bramblegoop’s Sideways Magic come about?
I wanted to write something that would make both kids and parents laugh. I noticed that my kids loved every picture book about underwear–and so did I! One day, I wrote the title “The Underwear Fairy” in my inspiration journal. I liked the assonance of it, and it seemed so full of potential for silliness and magic. The initial drafts started out as a picture book manuscript, but when I realized how much I enjoyed writing the dialogue, I decided to expand it to chapter book length. That’s also when I started adding the Fun Fairy Facts, which are exactly the type of thing I would have loved as a third or fourth grader. They’re like a double dose of magic. We ended up changing the title of the book after it sold to Putnam, because we wanted readers to have the enjoyment of being surprised when Oona becomes the Underwear Fairy.
What do you hope kids will take away from the book?
Our main character, Oona, messes up her magic a lot, but it’s the messiness that leads her forward, and she never gives up. I hope kids will discover that it’s not only OK to make mistakes; the mistakes are where the magic lives, as long as you persevere. This book is a great example of that—it was six years in the making!
Why is humor important in children’s literature?
We know that finding high-interest books is essential in encouraging children to read, and kids are smart—they want to follow the fun! Humor adds a lot to the enjoyment of the reading experience, and it becomes a wonderful cycle in that the more a child enjoys reading, the more they do it, and the more they do it, the better they become at it, which in turn makes them want to read more!
For me, there’s also a piece of body positivity for girls in the humor. It seems like books tailored to boys are often full of jokes about toots and butts, but that’s much rarer in books that are more girl-focused. But if my daughter is any indication, girls can find that humor just as funny. So if we take that antiquated shame piece away, I think laughing about all the body’s natural processes is a healthy path to accepting ourselves.
You have a writing and psychology background, have worked as an elementary school teacher and writer. Tell us a little about your various careers. Do they all contribute to your creativity?
Yes, I think everything we do contributes to creativity one way or another! Definitely, being a teacher helped me lock in on a narrative voice for that age group, as well as what kind of themes and plotlines are appealing to kids. The psychology connection is not as straightforward, but I do think that when you spend a lot of time thinking about and studying relational dynamics and people’s inner emotional lives, it helps with character development and writing authentic dialogue.
Tell us a little more about your creative process. When do you typically write? Do you keep ideas on notecards, a special notebook, sticky notes all over the wall? Do you have a special spot where you like to write and create?
I like to write in the morning when I am fresh, so I usually write between 8:30 and 10:30 am. I give myself a daily minimum of writing 500 words, and though I usually write more than that, I like having a very manageable expectation for myself, because getting over that initial hump of sitting down and starting every day is the hardest part. I have kept ideas in all of the places you mentioned, but lately I have been dictating ideas into the notes app on my phone, because that way they are always close at hand and never get lost. I find that the vast majority of my ideas come to me in the shower or the car, so I’ll just grab the phone while I’m wrapped in a towel or pull over into a parking space, and say the ideas as fast as I can into the phone before they fly away. Currently, my favorite place to write is in my husband’s cozy home office, much to his chagrin! But he usually doesn’t need his office until the late morning, so it tends to work out.
How old are your kids? What does a typical day look like for you as a mom and a writer?
As a writer, I have been incredibly lucky to be in that rare situation where I don’t also have to hold down a full-time job in addition to raising the kids and taking care of our household. Since my son is now 13 and my daughter is 11, once I get them off to school, I have ample time to write. I’m done by late morning, then it’s meal prep or chores or exercise. Starting at 3:00, it’s back to a kid focus for pick up and ferrying them to various sports, orthodontic appointments, or social events. Then we have dinner as a family and maybe some family TV time or reading together.
When you’re not working, where will we find you?
The tennis court. I started playing tennis during the pandemic and even though I’m still not very good, I really love it.
How has parenthood changed you?
It’s made me a lot more tired! But seriously, I think parenthood has made me a better listener. Seeing the world through the eyes of my children is fascinating to me; they have such a fresh perspective. Plus, I’m intentionally interested in them feeling heard, so listening is not only something I want to do with them, it also feels like something that’s important to do.
Did you always want to write children’s books?
I always enjoyed writing, always liked playing with words on paper. I studied creative writing in college, and it almost felt like cheating to get credit for it, because to me it was always fun and never work. But my dream to write children’s books specifically didn’t bloom until I had children of my own and I was really steeped in all the wonderful children’s lit out there. My son was enthralled with garbage trucks and trash cans as a pre-schooler, and it wasn’t long until we’d read the available garbage truck PB’s so many times I could recite them in my sleep. We needed more. So I started writing stories of my own for him. That’s how it started.
What would you tell your middle school self?
I was actually bullied pretty mercilessly in middle school; this was before the days when it was cool to be smart and before schools had zero tolerance policies for bullying. And it really got to me as a sensitive soul. I often wish I could tell that girl what I learned much later, that if you can lean into a tease by laughing it off rather than getting worked up, it takes away what the bully craves. But honestly, I still don’t know if that would have made the difference I wished for. I mostly want to give young me a great big hug and let her know that it will get so much better.
Best writing advice you have received?
That writing is revision. Embrace big changes and don’t be afraid to “kill your darlings,” meaning lose lines or passages or even whole plot lines that you really love in order to elevate the work as a whole. I always save my drafts as a security blanket, so that if I make big changes and they end up making the piece worse instead of better, I can always go back. But I never do. Changes have always made my work better.
Best parenting advice?
That children need structure and boundaries. Some days, my children are quite vocal in taking issue with various house rules (like set bedtimes, especially since, according to them, “all of their other friends can stay up as late as they want”). So when I’m hating feeling like the bad guy, I take comfort in the knowledge that it is their developmental job to press up against boundaries, and it is my job to hold those boundaries calm and steady for them.
Favorite spots in and around L.A. that you enjoy?
My children attend school in West L.A., so on early out days we like to go to Sawtelle and Olympic and get shaved ice or boba or ramen, and then we might even browse at Giant Robot or go across the street to Michael’s or Home Goods looking for gnomes (my daughter loves gnomes). We also are a big beach family, and we love going to the beach by the Annenberg Community Beach House and then having lunch at Back on the Beach, or going down to the Manhattan Beach Pier and The Creamery.
